- Pope and co-founder of Anthropic to launch pontiff’s AI encyclical on May 25
Source: Associated Press
“Pope Leo XIV and the co-founder of artificial intelligence company Anthropic will launch the pontiff’s first encyclical on May 25, a document on the care of human dignity in the era of AI, the Vatican said Monday. Anthropic has billed itself as the AI company that puts safety and risk-mitigation at the forefront of its research. As a result, the presence of Anthropic’s Christopher Olah at the Vatican is significant, and suggests that the U.S. pope’s position on AI will become a new flashpoint with the Trump administration. … The pope’s presence at the launch of the document, Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity) is also significant, since such presentations are usually conducted in the Vatican press room with a few selected officials and invited guests who answer reporters questions about the document.” (05/18/26)
- NY: Mangione prosecutors can use gun and notebook as evidence, judge rules
Source: NBC News
“The judge overseeing the state murder trial of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, ruled Monday that prosecutors can use a gun and a notebook as evidence. Judge Gregory Carro’s ruling effectively rejected Mangione’s lawyers’ argument that those items were seized illegally, delivering a partial victory to prosecutors. However, Carro said prosecutors cannot admit items found in Mangione’s backpack when he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania two years ago, including a loaded magazine, a passport and a wallet. Authorities have previously described the red notebook found in his bag as a ‘manifesto.’ Mangione’s arrest came five days after Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was shot dead outside a Manhattan hotel as he walked to an investors’ conference.” (05/18/26)
- Australia: Regime orders “China-linked” firms to sell stakes in rare earths miner
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Australia ordered the shareholders linked to China to sell their stakes in Northern Minerals, a company that is developing a rare earth mine. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he had issued orders on Monday following concerns that Chinese investors had tried to take control of Northern Minerals. The Australia-based mining company is developing its Browns Range project in the far north of the state of Western Australia to mine significant reserves of dysprosium and terbium. The six companies are to sell their stake within two weeks. Chalmer’s decision aims to protect the country’s national interest and to ensure compliance with its foreign investment framework, he said in a statement.” (05/18/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/australia-orders-firms-to-sell-stakes-in-rare-earths-miner/a-77192174
- UK: Tube strikes called off by RMT union
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A wave of strikes starting on Tuesday by London Underground drivers has been suspended by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT). Drivers were due to walk out at 12:00 BST on Tuesday and resume on Thursday in a dispute over the voluntary introduction of a four-day week with condensed hours. On Monday, the RMT said ‘at the 11th hour the employer has shifted its position allowing us to further explore our members concerns around the imposition of new rosters, fatigue and safety issues.’ Transport for London (TfL) described the suspension as ‘good news for London.’ Industrial action planned for 16 and 18 June has been suspended but fresh strikes have been called for 2 and 4 June.” (05/18/26)
- Greece: Colossal tomb tied to Alexander the Great revealed by officials
Source: Fox News
“Greek officials have unveiled the interior of a massive ancient tomb possibly linked to Alexander the Great as archaeologists continue excavation and restoration work. Greece’s Ministry of Culture announced the news in a statement on May 11. The excavation centers around the Kasta Tomb in Amphipolis, the ruins of an ancient Macedonian city in northern Greece, about 60 miles northeast of Thessaloniki. … Researchers believed Kasta Tomb was ‘built for someone very close to Alexander the Great,’ such as his mother, one of his wives or one of his friends, National Geographic reported in 2014.” (05/18/26)
- Spain: Shakira acquitted in tax fraud case
Source: Seattle Times
“A Spanish court acquitted Shakira in a tax fraud case, ordering the government to return more than 55 million euros ($64 million) in wrongly imposed fines, a court document seen Monday by The Associated Press said. The decision follows years of tax troubles in Spain for the Colombian superstar. The ruling relates to a dispute over the 2011 tax year in which Spanish tax authorities did not prove that the singer was a resident of Spain, the Madrid-based court said in its decision.” (05/18/26)
- Italy: Foreign minister says divers found bodies of four Italians dead in Maldives sea cave
Source: SFGate
“Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Monday rescuers have located the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave in a Maldive atoll. The searches had resumed on Monday after being suspended following the death of a local military diver during a perilous mission to try to reach them. … The body of one Italian — a diving instructor — was found earlier outside the cave.” (05/18/26)
- South Korea: Samsung strike involving 47,000 workers looms as president urges labor deal
Source: CNBC
“South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday called for both labor and management rights to be respected as an 18-day strike at Samsung Electronics looms. … A final round of talks between the union and Samsung’s management was scheduled for Monday. The union’s demands center on Samsung’s performance-based bonus system. It is seeking performance bonuses equivalent to 15% of Samsung’s operating profit, the removal of bonus payout caps, and a formalized bonus structure, among other measures. Samsung’s management has offered to allocate 10% of operating profit to bonuses and provide a one-time special compensation package, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.” (05/18/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/18/samsung-strike-lee-jae-myung-labor-deal.html
- Will Affordability Bankrupt President Trump?
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by James Bovard“Trump constantly blusters as if he deserves the Nobel Prize for Economic Triumphs, just like he supposedly deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. In a January speech in Iowa, he doubled down on his triumphs by referring to himself in the third person: ‘Just after one year of President Trump, our economy is booming …. Incomes are rising. Investment is soaring. Inflation has been defeated.’ Unfortunately, Trump’s record on the economy is as shaky as his claims that he ended eight wars. The core wholesale inflation rate rose in January at an annual rate of 9 percent. ‘Howl louder’ has been the president’s response. Beginning late last year, the affordability issue made Trump schizophrenic.” (05/18/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/will-affordability-bankrupt-president-trump/
- The dangerous allure of a post-Netanyahu Israel
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man“Israel is officially entering election season, and with it comes the perennial and inescapable excitement among some progressives in the United States who are eager to see Israeli voters send Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu packing. That excitement, however, is an illusion. It is built on a belief, long clung to by American supporters of Israel, that Israel without Netanyahu would somehow become a liberal democracy that aligns more with their own values. That illusion is based on a false view of Israeli policy in the decades before Netanyahu’s reign.” (05/18/26)
- What do “laws” prove?
Source: Kent’s “Hooligan Libertarian” Blog
by Kent McManigal“In a discussion about the effect of self-driving cars on cops and their DWI grift, someone said, ‘Self driving cars are a fantasy. They do not have the ability. They can assist but cannot drive themselves.’ Now, this is objectively not true. Someone else pointed out. ‘I’ve seen them driving around downtown, sans human driver.’ The Luddite’s response. ‘They are not reliable. Several have ran over pedestrians and they have been the cause of accidents.’ I pointed out, ‘Humans are even less reliable, unfortunately.’ So, he responded, ‘If that is true then why is it required for a person to be at the wheel and paying attention while the vehicle is driving itself?’ … That ‘laws’ require something dumb isn’t an argument. It proves nothing.” (05/18/26)
https://kentmcmanigal.blogspot.com/2026/05/what-do-laws-prove.html
- Stop fearing a strong Russia — start fearing a dying Russia
Source: The Hill
by Emzari Gelashvili“Russia entered the war at maximum sustainable capacity without general mobilization. After years of attrition, it has burned through most of its Soviet-era equipment stocks. Given Russia’s weakened state, a conventional confrontation with NATO is not only unlikely now, but it has become almost impossible — prohibitively expensive and demographically unsustainable. The real strategic risk is not a confident Russia launching a conventional assault on the Baltics. It is the behavior of a cornered, nuclear-armed state that perceives itself in terminal decline. A leadership facing military failure and domestic crisis may calculate that tactical nuclear signaling or hybrid escalation offers its best chance to reset the board.” (05/18/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/5880263-russia-decline-military-economy-2026/
- Taxes and Government Fees Make Up 25 Percent of Car Rental Fees
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“With gasoline averaging about $4.50 per gallon — over six bucks if you’re unlucky enough to live in California — President Donald Trump proposes a gas tax holiday to give American consumers a bit of relief. A reprieve from taxes is always welcome, but the real bite isn’t the federal 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents on each gallon of diesel fuel. States charge far more, and that’s especially true if you rent a car, with gas taxes the least of the problem. In some places, more than half the tab for car rentals comes from taxes and government-mandated fees.” (05/18/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/18/taxes-and-government-fees-make-up-25-percent-of-car-rental-fees/
- Trump Reigniting Iran War Proves It Was Failure From the Start
Source: Common Dreams
by Trita Parsi“The Middle East is once again teetering on the brink as Trump appears poised to reignite war with Iran. Press reports indicate he will convene military advisers on Tuesday, though my understanding is that both the meeting and the decision are likely to come sooner. Over the past several hours, Trump has flooded Truth Social with a barrage of incendiary threats. While some of this may be theatrical brinkmanship designed to force Tehran into submission, sources in the Iranian capital tell me they expect the United States to resume hostilities within the next 48 hours. We should first recognize that restarting the war amounts to an admission that Trump’s previous escalatory gambit — the blockade of the blockade — has failed.” (05/18/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-restarting-iran-war
- Kevin Warsh’s Impossible Mission
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul“President Trump’s ‘solution’ to the economic problems facing many Americans is lower interest rates. Jerome Powell, who Warsh is succeeding as Fed chair, has refused to lower rates to the level desired by President Trump. This is a big part of why the president has said he chose not to reappoint Powell. Concerns that Warsh would allow President Trump to dictate monetary policy help explain why only one Democratic Senator voted for Warsh’s confirmation. Lowering rates may slightly reduce credit card and other interest rates paid by consumers. However, it will further erode the dollar’s value, thus further reducing Americans’ real incomes and causing them to go further into debt.” (05/18/26)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/kevin-warshs-impossible-mission
- Medicine by Captivity: The Rise of the Hostage Physician
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon“I have now spent four decades practicing medicine. … Most physicians did. That is the part many people outside medicine still do not fully understand. Doctors do not sacrifice years of their lives, miss holidays, destroy their sleep schedules, and carry this kind of emotional burden because they dream about maximizing throughput metrics or documentation compliance. We entered medicine because we wanted to help people. It sounds simple saying that now, maybe even naïve, but it is true. Somewhere along the line medicine changed. Hospitals changed. The language changed first because that is always how these transformations begin. Patients slowly became ‘throughput issues.’ Beds became ‘capacity management.’ Discharges became ‘flow optimization.’ … Everything slowly started sounding less human and more operational. And eventually, hospitals stopped feeling like places centered around caring for human beings and started feeling like giant processing centers where movement itself became the priority.” (05/18/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/medicine-by-captivity-the-rise-of-the-hostage-physician/
- How Marco Rubio morphed his way into Trump’s inner circle
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Linda Feldmann“As a United States senator from Florida, Marco Rubio was a high-profile ‘neocon’ – a hawk on China and Russia, a strong supporter of Taiwan, Ukraine, and NATO, and an advocate for free trade and human rights. Today, not so much – at least on those issues. As both secretary of State and acting national security adviser, Secretary Rubio is fully on board with President Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy: more ‘Art of the Deal’ use of American leverage, including tariffs, less hard-line absolutism with other major powers. Mr. Rubio’s evolution shouldn’t come as a shock. After all, he is no longer his own boss; he works for President Trump – in two key capacities, the first to hold both titles since Henry Kissinger in the 1970s.” (05/18/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2026/0518/rubio-trump-foreign-policy
- Nonprofits in the age of doubt
Source: hypertext
by David Dagan“Nonprofits face a series of interlocking crises in the second Trump administration. Most obviously, there are broadsides from the White House: indiscriminate funding cuts for human services providers, targeted pressure campaigns and cuts to research funding for higher education, threats to investigate and prosecute left-leaning philanthropies. But this challenge is layered on top of a deeper crisis of trust.” (05/18/26)
https://hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/nonprofits-in-the-age-of-doubt
- The Hungry Boar
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders“A Parable of Power and Subversive Innovation.” (05/18/26)
- Dems’ idiotic rhetoric on courts reveals what they’re really after
Source: New York Post
by David Harsanyi“The contemporary leftist [sic] is a consequentialist with no limiting principles. After the Virginia Supreme Court stopped the Democrats’ unconstitutional gerrymandering scheme, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, now the favorite Democratic Party presidential prospect 2028 in a number of polls, claimed that the court ‘didn’t overturn a map’ but ‘overturned an election.’ ‘The power of the American people, that should be the ultimate check on all three branches,’ she declared. In any other age, vocalizing illiterate nonsense about our system of governance might be an embarrassing career-ending flub. Today, it’s the norm among progressives.” (05/18/26)
- CPI Meets Goodhart’s Law: Can Economic Metrics Become Fallacies?
Source: The Daily Economy
by Per Bylund“When measures like CPI and GDP become policy targets, they also become sources of confusion for both experts and the public.” (05/18/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/cpi-meets-goodharts-law-can-economic-metrics-become-fallacies/
- There Is No Freedom in an Assassination Nation
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob Hornberger“To date, President Trump and the U.S. national-security branch of the federal government (i.e., the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA) have assassinated around 200 people in small boats on the high seas near South America. Such assassinations are quickly becoming a normalized part of American life, especially within the mainstream press. There is no question but that the American people, as of now, can do little to stop these assassinations. Trump controls the congressional branch of government as well as the Justice Department. Ever since the conversion of the federal government to a national-security state, the Supreme Court has made it clear that it will not enforce the Constitution against anything the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA do in the name of ‘national security.'” (05/18/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/05/18/there-is-no-freedom-in-an-assassination-nation/
- Economics is Intuitive: Rejoinder to Craig
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan“Basic economics makes psychologically normal humans angry and disgusted. Usually mildly, but the uglier the economic lesson, the more extreme the anger and disgust become. … They don’t think very carefully, but they still have strong opinions against, say, letting developers buy up townhomes in San Francisco to replace them with skyscrapers. Which is very weird. Why would anyone have strong opinions about issues they haven’t thought about very carefully? Because they’re relying on emotion instead!” (05/18/26)
- Trump’s Cabinet dramatically changed American foreign policy while the president made noise – a scholar of presidential rhetoric explains
Source: The Conversation
by Kevin Maloney“The president’s rhetorical style, heard most recently on his mid-May trip to China, is explained by political allies as part of Trump’s strategic approach and criticized by his opponents as the dangerous musings of an unstable leader. In either case – whether it’s Trump’s defenders or detractors – it is increasingly difficult to ascertain whether the language of the president signals actual policy positions from the White House. If the words of the American president no longer function as reliable indicators of U.S. foreign policy, where can the public, U.S. allies and America’s adversaries look to better understand the administration’s geopolitical priorities? One answer may be found by examining the words of key Cabinet members.” (05/18/26)
- Decades of Bad Energy Policy Left Oil Markets Vulnerable to Iran Shock
Source: The Daily Economy
by Rebak Attila“Current energy prices reflect the delayed costs of regulatory priorities that misallocated investment and undermined energy resilience.” (05/18/26)
- The rule of law should matter to all of us
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
by Tom Corbett & Bob Cindrich“A judiciary that cannot operate without intimidation is not fully independent. A country that cannot accept lawful judicial outcomes will not continue to be governed by law.” (05/18/26)
- Escalation in Iran Would Be Madness
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison“The people urging the U.S. to escalate are fanatics and ideologues who just want to see Iran in ruins no matter what it takes.” (05/18/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/escalation-in-iran-would-be-madness
- The Lines We Thought Machines Wouldn’t Cross
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith“In 2000, the world braced for Y2K. It came with a date and a remedy. There was panic about doomsday but as I and other programmers stretched the year field from two to four characters, apart from scattered hiccups, the lights stayed on. Everything about Y2K was known — the problem, the solution, and the deadline. Q-Day is something else entirely. Q-Day is shorthand for the moment when quantum computing crosses a line we assumed would hold — when the mathematics that secures modern life can be broken, and broken quickly. On Q-Day the locks will be quietly and rapidly picked. And the unsettling part is that the thief may already have your safe, waiting for the day the combination becomes trivial to compute.” (05/18/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/lines-we-thought-machines-wouldnt-cross
- Last Thing Needed
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“‘I think the last thing we need right now is a war that’s 9,500 miles away.’ Just place a period after the word ‘war’ in President Trump’s comments to reporters, after last week’s summit with Chinese ruler Xi Jinping and discussion about China’s democratic neighbor, Taiwan, the Republic of China. Which raises the question: How best to avoid war over Taiwan?” [editor’s note: That one’s easy — the US regime minds its own business. “Problem” solved – TLK] (05/18/26)
- The GOP’s Midterm Reversal of Fortune
Source: Townhall
by Kirt Schlichter“Winston Churchill once observed that there’s nothing quite like the feeling of being shot at and missed. The Republicans are enjoying that glorious sensation as we speak. Thanks to redistricting decisions in various courts as well as some surprising examples of GOP manhood in their wake, it looks like November is a jump ball. The midterms were supposed to be a rendezvous with disaster, and historically, the tides are still against us. But Democrats have just had the miserable experience of discovering that fate is fickle. Recent events have made it so that Republicans have a fighting chance, and our joy and relief that we’re not necessarily destined for doom is amplified by our delight in hearing Democrats squeal in agony as all their dreams die.” [editor’s note: The midterms are nearly six months away. Six months is forever in politics, so take all predictions with a grain of salt – TLK] (05/18/26)
- A Tale of Thucydides
Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman“China shouldn’t worry — Trump is too weak and unfocused to be a threat.” (05/18/26)
- Quantum Vibe, 05/18/26
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott BieserCartoon. (05/18/26)
- This Tiny Toad Blocked a Green Energy Project. A New Federal Rule Will Cut “Green” Tape.
Source: Reason
by Jeff Luse“A streamlined process for environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act gives the government broader discretion to approve projects.” (for publication 06/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/18/less-green-tape-for-more-clean-energy/
- Boomers vs. Doomers
Source: Law & Liberty
by Jeffery Degner“Forty years ago, the one-hit wonder, Timbuk 3 harmonized, ‘the future’s so bright, I’ve gotta wear shades.’ In the four decades since, the long-run trends in consumer sentiment cast a decidedly darker outlook. Consumer sentiment measures Americans’ views on their economic future, and it’s been getting consistently more dire over time. When that demoralization becomes ingrained in a generation’s psyche, ‘eat and drink, tomorrow we die’ becomes more than a slogan; it becomes a way of life. One of the institutions most dramatically undermined by this persistent gloom is the family.” (05/18/26)
- Reason Roundtable, 05/18/26
Source: Reason
“Why Is Trump Trying To Purge Thomas Massie?” (05/18/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/05/18/why-is-trump-trying-to-purge-thomas-massie/
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 05/18/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Will Trump’s Trip to China Change the Course of the Iran War? w/ Patrick Henningsen.” (05/18/26)
- Rising, 05/18/26
Source: The Hill
“Thomas Massie smeared by GOP establishment; MAGA is with him!” (05/18/26)
- Politico Playbook Daily Briefing, 05/18/26
Source: Politico
“Massie vs. Trump, Cuba, and 2028 already?” (05/18/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/18/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Trump, Outside Millions, and Massie: Will Voters Have the Final Say in Kentucky?” (05/18/26)
- Bulwark Takes, 05/18/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump Stumbles and Slurs His Way Through Short Bible Reading.” (05/18/26)
- EconTalk, 05/18/26
Source: EconTalk
“Tom Cruise’s Body of Work (with Aled Maclean-Jones).” (05/18/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/tom-cruises-body-of-work-with-aled-maclean-jones/
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 05/18/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Masculinism and Feminism | Interview: Helen Lewis.” (05/18/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/masculinism-and-feminism-interview-helen-lewis/
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 05/18/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Rages Wildly at Journo — and Accidentally Exposes Big Iran Blunder.” (05/18/26)